


Soft, Dead Heart

by DiamondWings



Series: Bloom, Love [4]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Chan is helpless, Felix can't take his own medicine, Felix is not, Felix is pissed but has a good heart, Fluff, Flustered Chan, Happy Ending, Human Felix, Humor, M/M, Newborn Vampire Chan, Roughhousing, Some blood and violence bc come on there's a vampire, The one where the human teaches the vampire how to vampire, Their relationship seems violent but isn't really, Vampire Chan, little angst, lots of banter, lots of innuendos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-02-25 04:34:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21570889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiamondWings/pseuds/DiamondWings
Summary: Newborn vampires are helpless on their own, much like newborn humans. Can a human raise a newborn vampire, though?
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Felix
Series: Bloom, Love [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1553968
Comments: 32
Kudos: 298





	Soft, Dead Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Felix felt giddy as the pool became transparent again. An immortal incarnation of himself finding true love, through such adversity… If that wasn’t a sign to give him immense hope, he didn’t know what was. Of course, he didn’t know, couldn’t know what powers were at work to make that happen in that other pantheon his incarnation belonged to. It made him even more curious what other powers that be had decreed for him across the realms, and he focused on the pool again, a reflection of another world already forming above his head.

The alley Felix used as a shortcut on the way home from work wasn’t dark per se, it merely had some darker spots where the corners of the buildings flanking it stood out further or receded. Still, Felix would say it was well-lit enough to be considered safe. Most days, anyway. And well, Felix wasn’t easily scared, nor was he usually an easy victim, so maybe his wasn’t the best judgement.

Either way, Felix felt safe enough as he took the shortcut, despite it being close to midnight and the lamp over the front door on the third building being broken, reducing visibility in the middle part of the alley. Felix didn’t care, though; he was not about to round the whole block because of a stupid broken light, when there was rain in the air and he was already more than done with the day because his boss was a dick.

His day was not getting better, though. He stepped confidently into the dark part of the alley, but before he knew it, he was slammed into the nearest wall, the impact knocking the wind out of his lungs and making his ears ring; and not improving his mood at all.

“Fucker…” He muttered under his breath, bringing his arms up and under his attacker’s, dropping his body, twisting, kicking, twisting again, and a pained yell echoed in the alley when a body hit the pavement where the light of the next lamp illuminated it again past the corner of the next building; and the body was not Felix’.

“The hell do you think you’re doing, attacking people in dark alleys? How cliché… Come on, at least be creative about it, but slamming people into walls? Pathetic!” Felix spat, stepping into the light.

The figure on the ground cowered, flinching when Felix stepped closer, and Felix actually felt bad. The kid - it was a kid, wasn’t it? Looked like it, at least – looked bad, clothes dirty and torn, dried blood staining the front of his sweater, cheeks sunken in as if he hadn’t eaten in weeks, marks of fights everywhere on his body and clothes (fights he had not won, by the looks of it) and not even a knife, never mind any other weapon, in sight.

“You’ve had better days, haven’t you… Why do you have to look so miserable, now I feel bad for just kicking the shit out of you… Hey, you ok…?” Felix approached the kid carefully, who just cowered further. “Hey, kiddo… Unless you’re going to try to jump me again, I’m not going to hurt you. If you tell me what it is you were after, I might even be able to help you out… What is that?”

The kid was whispering something to himself as Felix came closer, yet Felix couldn’t hear what it was he was saying even when he was crouching down next to him, a mere armlength away from him.

Felix frowned, wondering what was going on, when the kid suddenly tensed and jumped up; straight at Felix, his eyes glowing red, teeth – no, fangs – bared.

On a reflex drilled into him by countless hours of martial-arts-practice, Felix let himself fall back, using the momentum of the kid to flip him over himself, slam him into the concrete, and used the pull to right himself up and pin the kid down as he twisted his arms behind his back. The kid let out a choked yell, but Felix didn’t let go of him as he held him down.

“What the-… You’re a vampire, aren’t you?” Felix stated more than asked.

“Ah~ Let me go, hng~ I give up… Please, just let me go… Please…” He begged, whimpering, and Felix sighed.

“Answer my questions and I might let you go. Vampire?”

The kid nodded, his cheek scratching against the asphalt, and Felix took some pressure off his upper back to allow him more room.

“Damn… You’re weak, for a vampire. How do you even survive…?! Anyway, survive off someone else, will you? I’ve had a shit day, and in the mood I’m in, I’m not above beating the shit out of you if you try that again.”

The vampire nodded weakly, and Felix tightened his grip once more in warning before letting him go and getting up. The vampire sat up slowly, scooting back until his back hit a wall.

Felix knew he should leave, this was none of his business, yet he didn’t seem to be able to. The kid just looked too pitiful.

“You really look like you’ve had a shit couple of days…” He remarked quietly, and the vampire glared up at him tiredly, but also absolutely done as something seemed to snap in him.

“Try couple of weeks. You wouldn’t look any better if you hadn’t eaten or properly slept in two weeks, after having your throat ripped out and blood sucked out until you’d have just enough left to turn you into one of the creatures that killed you, then left to rot because your accidental maker had no use for you, kicked out by your parents because they didn’t want to have a monster living under their roof, and at the end of it all been slammed into the damn road a few times. All because originally you needed another coffee at four in the morning to finish a stupid assignment you’d been agonizing over for a whole month, but which two weeks later you can’t even remember what it was about. At this point, the least _you_ could do is make sure you slam me into the pavement hard enough that I _won’t_ get up again, rather than mock my appearance; I might actually thank you for it!”

To say Felix was taken aback by the vampire’s outburst was an understatement.

“Wow… Ok I’ll give you that, my shit day has nothing on yours. And now I’m _really_ sorry for kicking your ass.”

The vampire groaned, shaking his head.

“Don’t be. Actually, is there anything I can do for you to just end my misery for good? I’m not made for this stupid vampire life! I can’t do this whole… Killing people for their blood thing. I don’t want it. Everything about this just sucks… pun not intended.”

To Felix’ surprise, a tear escaped the vampire’s eyes, but he quickly wiped it away before wrapping his arms tightly around himself.

“Wow… Hey, you do know you don’t have to kill someone to get their blood, do you? There are other ways…”

The vampire scoffed.

“Yeah, sure. Because anyone would just let a vampire snack on them, or I can just walk into a supermarket and get me a can of blood out of the fridge, right?”

Felix rolled his eyes.

“No, dumbass. It takes some training on your part to learn how to convince people to let you feed from them, and a lesson or two in self-restraint to stop in time, but it can be done. Don’t just give up like that!”

The vampire averted his gaze sheepishly, but it soon returned to Felix with a glare.

“And how do you suggest I learn that shit without any help? And without leaving a bunch of corpses behind until I get the hang of it?”

Felix didn’t back down under the vampire’s stare, holding his gaze with his own, stubborn one.

“I could help you.” He answered calmly, and the vampire spluttered.

“You… _what?!”_

‘Yeah, actually, Felix; what the _fuck_?!’ His mind supplied, but he wouldn’t back down now. His decision was made.

“I could help you. I’ll let you feed from me, and then you can come home with me, take a shower, sleep some, and once I’m done with work tomorrow, we can start training. I know a thing or two about vampires.”

The vampire stared at him as if he’d grown not just a second head, but a second pair of legs, too, for good measure.

“But you’re… _human!”_

“Yeah, well, birth defect. Are you going to take my offer or not? At this point, it’s probably your best bet…”

The vampire shook his head at him, though.

“You’re crazy! I could kill you!”

“Like you just killed me a few minutes ago? Yeah, sorry if I doubt that.”

“I’ll grow stronger once I drink blood.”

“And you’ll also get more sensitive to silver, which I have no qualms at all about pressing into your skin if you don’t stop feeding the moment I tell you to. So?” He wriggled his wrist, showing the vampire a silver bracelet adorning it, which made him flinch.

The vampire shook his head again, and Felix huffed.

“Really now? A moment ago, you were ambushing me and going for my throat, but now that I’m offering my blood voluntarily to you, you refuse? Please catch me up to your logic, because I don’t get it!”

The vampire still hesitated, before giving Felix another glare.

“It’s not that I don’t want it! God knows I’m going crazy with hunger, but I’m just scared I’ll accidentally kill you, ok?!”

His fear rang clearly in his voice, and Felix felt bad for him. Still, he pulled the sleeve of his bracelet-free arm up and held it out for the vampire.

“I get it, but I can hold my own against you, and I won’t let you take too much. I promise. Come on, drink, and then we’ll see about everything else, ok?”

The vampire was transfixed by Felix’ bare arm, by the faint web of veins pulsing under the rosy skin, the rush of blood he could hear coursing through the thick arteries deeper in the flesh… There was still a hint of fear in his eyes, but soon he couldn’t resist any longer, and with a move so fast Felix could barely see it, he pulled his wrist to his mouth and sank his fangs into the limb.

Felix winced silently at the pain, but let the vampire drink without pulling away until he felt slightly dizzy.

“Ok, that’s enough.” He decided eventually, tugging at his wrist.

The vampire didn’t let go, though, growling slightly.

“Hey! Let go!”

No reaction. Felix had expected something like this to happen, though, and he had his bracelet ready, pressing the silver against the side of the vampire’s neck.

With a shriek, he let go of Felix, scooting back and against the wall so fast the plaster cracked.

“Sorry about that; I just didn’t want you to suck me completely dry. Can you, uh, lick over this so it’s stops bleeding? You know, since your saliva has healing properties…”

The vampire stared at him wide-eyed and still holding his neck.

“It… it does?”

Of course, he wouldn’t know.

“Oh boy, you have a lot to learn, don’t you… Yes, it does. Come here, and close it, please… I don’t want to bleed everywhere and attract more of your kind. That would succeed in ruining both our days even further.”

The vampire scooted closer again warily, eyeing the bracelet in Felix’ other hand with suspicion now.

“I won’t burn you again if you just close these wounds so I don’t bleed all over the place. Come on!” Carefully this time, the vampire took a hold of Felix’ hand and licked over the wound on his wrist, which stopped bleeding immediately and slowly knit itself together under their watchful eyes.

“Whoa…!” He breathed, fascinated, and Felix couldn’t help but chuckle. “Impressive, isn’t it? Anyway, how are you feeling?”

The vampire shrunk in a little on himself at the question.

“Better? At least somewhat…”

Felix smiled at him.

“Perfect. Now that I’ve essentially taken you out for dinner already, may I know your name?”

The vampire glared at him, but eventually sighed in defeat after a short time.

“It’s Chan. Bang Chan.”

“Nice to make your acquaintance, Chan. Name’s Lee Felix. Should we go home now? I don’t know about you, but I’m beat. So, just shower and sleep, no funny business. You even get your own room and everything.”

The vampire, Chan, looked warily at him, tough.

“How do I know you won’t expose me to the sun or something while I’m sleeping?”

Felix snorted.

“If I wanted you dead, I could have easily killed you before. I could also just have left you out here, starving. And I could still plunge my pocket-knife in your chest and rip your heart out at any moment. Yet I didn’t, and I won’t. You’ll be safe in my home.”

Chan hesitated, but the rain that had been hanging in the air started finally falling, and it accelerated his decision.

“I think… I’ll come with you.”

***

By the time the two reached Felix’ home, they were soaked, looking as if they had jumped into a pool fully clothed.

Felix wasted no time ushering Chan into the bathroom for the vampire to take a shower and change into some dry - and most importantly: clean - clothes he picked for him. They didn’t fit properly, but they could worry about that later.

“You get my guest room, over there. If you help me tape these trash-bags over the windows, you should be safe from the sun, too. They are opaque, and if we do two layers, that should cover any tiny holes or anything sunlight could seep through.” Felix greeted Chan in the hallway once the vampire stepped out of the bathroom. Chan scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, avoiding Felix’ gaze.

“That’s… I’m very grateful, but… You don’t need to do this… As long as I stay out of the direct sunlight, I’ll be fine…”

Felix’ eyes narrowed as Chan spoke.

“Bullshit. I know daylight alone hurts you! Come on, it’s no big deal, let’s just tape those windows shut and you can rest; you look like you need it! Seriously, when was the last time you got a good full eight hours- on second thought, don’t answer that. Just come and give me a hand there.” He interrupted when Chan was about to answer, remembering his earlier words.

Chan followed him into Felix’ guest room quietly, helping Felix as the human instructed.

“Thank you…” He thanked Felix quietly once they were done, and Felix gave him a welcoming smile, the first directed at the vampire. They were both tired, incredibly so, and had no more energy for the barbs they had traded earlier. There was also something about being around each other in cute fluffy pyjamas that took the bite out of any conversation.

“You’re welcome. And… Sorry for beating the shit out of you earlier. I hope we can forget about the whole ordeal and start over. You didn’t deserve the shit you’ve been put through, and I do want to help you. Starting tomorrow, though; I need to sleep now. I have an asshole of a boss – actually, a whole chain of asshole bosses all the way to the top – just waiting to make my life miserable again tomorrow, and for some masochistic reason I want to at least be fully awake for the torture.

“If you need anything in the meantime… just feel free to explore. I have nothing to hide. Just stay away from the food in the kitchen; I know it might be tempting, but if you’ve only been a vampire for two weeks, you’re way too young to be able to stomach any of that again just yet, and it could seriously hurt you. And please, I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t try to take another bite out of me while I’m sleeping. If you really do want to stick around, I promise I’ll help you find another meal tomorrow after work, but I can only do that if I’m still alive.”

Felix might have been joking, at least partially, but Chan spluttered at the implication that he might bite him again, half indignant, half appalled.

“I- I would never-…!” He started, but Felix waved him off.

“You might not want to, but you’re essentially a newborn, and probably still hungry; or at least you probably will be again soon. I’m going to lock my door just in case; it might not keep you out, but at least if you kick it down I’ll wake up and can defend myself. No hard feelings, I understand, but I’d still appreciate it if you left me and my door intact.”

The way Chan stared at the rug at his feet with shame and uncertainty confirmed that there was probably at least some truth to Felix’ words, and despite his bravery, he did feel a little apprehensive about going to sleep with an unsated newborn vampire in the room over.

***

Chan had been fast asleep when Felix left to go back to work the next morning, Felix having been more than right when he’d guessed that Chan must have been exhausted. However, he had never been good at the whole sleeping thing even when he’d been human still, and he woke up mid-afternoon to an empty apartment. And an empty stomach, too.

He winced at the pangs of hunger that were pretty much the first thing he became aware of as soon as he woke up. Belatedly, he registered the total darkness the room was bathed in, and it took him a moment to remember where he was. It came back to him the moment he took a whiff of the human the apartment belonged to: Felix.

It still boggled his mind that Felix had shown such kindness to him after his failed attempts to attack and bite him.

Who even did that? Who in their right mind took someone into their own home who had tried to not just hurt, but possibly kill them on the street? And not just that, Felix had fed him at his own expense, clothed him and even made sure he could sleep comfortably, sheltered from all daylight and without any risk of exposure to the sun.

There was probably something Felix must want from him, no one was this kind for no reason, not in this world. But then again, for what kindness Felix had shown him so far, Chan was already willing to do an embarrassing amount of things to repay him. Especially since Felix had promised to feed him again when he came back from work today.

Chan’s stomach cramped again at the thought of more food, even if the thought of drinking blood nauseated him. He knew since yesterday, though, that as long as he didn’t think about it, when the time came and he actually tasted it, there was nothing more delicious to him.

He was eventually ripped out of his thoughts when he heard the lock of the front door slide back and the door open, footsteps coming in.

“Chan? You around?” Felix’ voice sounded through the apartment, and Chan got up and stepped out of the room carefully. Thankfully, the hallway was only lit by artificial light, what little daylight shone in from the living room at the end drowned out by the light of the lamp overhead.

“Hey there, sleeping beauty. So, I see you’ve decided to stay.” Felix greeted with a cheeky grin.

Chan shrugged.

“Yeah… The sun is still out and it’s not like I have anywhere to go anyway…”

Felix hummed.

“Ah, the sun; true. Forgot about that one. Have you been up for long? I’m fairly sure you guys are supposed to sleep through the day…”

Chan shrugged again.

“I’ve never been good at sleeping… And I did fall asleep early last night. I just woke up, though…”

Felix merely nodded in acknowledgement before stepping further into the apartment. Chan followed him hesitantly as he went to the kitchen and put on a kettle of water.

“You are probably hungry again by now, aren’t you…” Felix asked while he was making himself a cup of tea.

“Uhm… yes…” Chan had to admit, rather sheepishly.

“Hmm… I figured. I would give you more of my own blood, but I don’t think I can spare much again so soon. As soon as the sun goes down, we should head out and see if we can find you something.”

Chan inhaled sharply, holding his breath as he wrapped his arms around himself in what looked half like a hug, half an attempt to protect himself.

“I… I don’t think… I’m sure I won’t be any better at it now that I was yesterday, with you…” Mentally, Chan face-palmed. Why would he bring up his own attempts at attacking Felix? Was he begging to get kicked out again?

Felix hummed nonchalantly, though, taking his mug of tea and indicating Chan to take the lead to the living room.

“Yeah, I figured that, too. We’ll have to teach you some fighting skills first before you try that again. But violence isn’t the only way for you to get a meal. You could also just glamour someone. A little flirting, a deep look in their eyes, a little command and they are all yours… Please tell me you have at least heard of that before?” Felix tacked on when Chan looked incredibly confused, but to his dismay, Chan shook his head no.

“Oh… ok. Ok, you know what? That’s ok. We’ll get there. Tonight, we’ll just go to a club, and we’ll see what opportunities present themselves. You don’t have to be great at glamouring to get someone’s attention in a club. In some way, we’ll find you a meal.”

***

What Felix hadn’t taken into consideration – because really, there was no way he could ever have guessed that – was Chan’s extreme clumsiness. Half an hour at the club, and Chan had already managed to get slapped twice for his clumsy advances, and the one pick-up-line Felix overheard from Chan made him want to never, ever hear a pick-up-line ever again. Aside from that, he was a pretty awful dancer, too, and he seemed to not have an ounce of natural talent when it came to using the famed vampire seduction techniques. So, yeah, despite looking pretty damn hot in the get-up Felix had chosen for him, it was not going well, and Felix quickly realized that he couldn’t leave a very hungry Chan on his own in a room full of humans that much longer without asking for disaster.

With a sigh, he downed the shot he had just ordered and made his way into the crowd and towards Chan.

“Hey, let’s get out of here!” He shouted over the thumping bass, taking Chan by the wrist. Chan whipped around, his eyes flashing red for a second, before he recognized Felix.

“But, I haven’t-” He started, but Felix cut him off.

“I know; that’s why!”

Chan didn’t understand, but he followed Felix nonetheless. Instead of to the exit, Felix pulled Chan to the back of the club, where the toilets were.

“What are we doing here?” Chan asked when Felix took to checking the stalls for other people.

“Last resort. You can’t be comfortable out there like this… This hungry. But at the same time, it doesn’t look like you’re going to be very successful at this rate. So… We wait.” Felix explained once he’d made sure all the stalls were empty. Then, he waved Chan over, pushing him into the stall closest to him and followed him, locking them both inside.

“What-”

“If we loiter outside, it will be suspicious. But no one will bat an eye if they hear someone puking in a closed stall, or making-out noises. Which one do you want to go for?” Felix explained, but Chan never got time to answer before the door to the room opened outside, and Felix quickly mimicked gagging sounds. Chan stared at him, wide-eyed, and Felix rolled his eyes.

“Comfort me!” He hissed, barely audible, and Chan’s eyes grew wider. He quickly gathered himself, though, clearing his throat quietly.

“There, there… You’re ok…?” His supposedly comforting words sounded more like a question, and Felix facepalmed mentally, but refrained from commenting, instead making more gagging sounds.

Outside, the sound of a flush and the door closing indicated that whoever had come in had finished their business and left again.

“Gross… Didn’t even wash his hands. Hundred percent a straight guy, wanna bet?”

Chan gave him a bewildered look, and Felix groaned.

“Please tell me you’re not one of those, too…”

Chan looked almost offended.

“What do you mean? A straight guy?”

Felix halted for a moment before chuckling.

“No, I meant one of those guys who don’t wash their hands after pissing… But, uh, if you feel like sharing more about yourself…”

Chan huffed, shaking his head as he rolled his eyes, too, for good measure.

“Well, for the record, I’m neither.”

The look on his face told Felix that if he could, Chan would have blushed furiously for sure.

“Good to know.” Felix gave Chan an approving look that quickly turned teasing. “So, wanna pretend we’re making out for the next one who comes in?”

Chan gasped, clearly taken off guard by that suggestion, in the precise moment the door opened again. The teasing glint remained in Felix’ eyes as he felt the opportunity was too good to pass up, and moaned sultrily. Chan stared at him like he had suddenly sprouted a second head, and Felix had to suppress a giggle. Instead, though, he moaned again, and Chan, mortified, tried to shush him.

“Sorry, babe… But you just-” Felix slammed his hand against the wall of the cubicle, moaning again.

“Tone it down in there, would you! Some of us just want to piss in peace!” A gruff voice came from the other side of the stall wall, and Felix glared at a spot above Chan’s head.

“You’re just jealous you’re not getting an-hgnf!” He was cut off when Chan pressed his hand over his mouth, a scandalized look on his face. Under Chan’s hand, Felix was laughing quietly, though.

The guy outside hit the door of the stall they were in before continuing on his way.

“Yeah, you better keep that little bitch in check in there, before I come in!” He yelled, and Chan’s gaze darkened, his hand falling off Felix’ face as he turned around and reached for the lock of the door. Hastily, Felix followed and caught Chan’s hand before he could unlock the door, practically plastering himself all over Chan in the process.

“Don’t! You’re in no condition to fight anyone! Leave that to when you’ve recovered your strength and learned some technique, ok?” He rushed out in a whisper that would be undistinguishable outside of the cubicle.

Chan glowered at him, and something shifted between them as they held each other’s gazes right there, but then he quickly backed up when he caught Felix’ scent. In a rush he covered his nose and mouth, but he couldn’t hide the flash of red in his eyes and the rumble of his stomach, and Felix understood.

“Oh… Sorry. Please don’t eat me?”

Chan exhaled sharply.

“You’re not funny…”

“This time, I was actually not trying to be. I just hope what I’m waiting for comes soon, for both our sakes…”

Chan narrowed his eyes slightly.

“What exactly is it that we’re waiting for?”

“You see-”

Felix had to break off and didn’t get to try to explain for quite a while, as a steady stream of people needing the bathroom came and went, not leaving the room empty again for quite some time. Next to him, Chan was starting to grow restless, and Felix really, _really_ hoped luck was with him and they wouldn’t have to wait for much longer.

Eventually, it happened, though. He could tell almost from the moment the guy walked in, door slamming open, feet shuffling sluggishly, and then the sound of a stall-door slamming open, too, but never closed. Retching sounds sounded, and Chan’s face contorted with disgust.

“Are you squeamish?” Felix asked quietly, and Chan gave him an exasperated look.

“If you had my sense of smell, you would be, too.”

Felix winced.

“I did not take that into account. Anyway, let me just…” He unlocked the door to their stall, checking if the coast was clear outside.

“Wait here until I call you, ok?” He didn’t wait for an answer, though, slipping out the door and over to the stall where a random guy was spilling out his regrets over too much alcohol consumption.

“Hey, buddy, you ok there?” He tried, patting the guy on the back. He just groaned, though, and Felix squeezed into the cubicle next to him, crouching down.

“Are you done puking? Do you need any help?”

The guy gurgled something unintelligible before dry-heaving.

“I think you are…” Felix decided, helping him sit while flushing the toilet, and the guy looked as if he was well on his way to just fall asleep. Perfect, for Felix’ plans.

“Hey, Chan, get over here!” He hissed loudly, and Chan slipped out of the stall they’d been in before, joining Felix and the stranger in theirs.

“What- Felix, what are you planning?”

Felix smirked up at him.

“Voilà, dinner!” He gestured at the guy in front of him.

Chan inhaled sharply.

“Is he-… Is he-”

“Not dead, not unconscious, just completely smashed. He won’t remember a thing tomorrow. Go on, have a nibble.” Felix coaxed, but Chan shook his head, backing away.

“I-I can’t. What if I take too much and k-kill him? Felix, I-”

Felix sighed softly.

“You won’t kill him, I’ll make sure you stop in time. You have to eat, Chan.”

“F-Felix, this is not a good idea…” Chan objected, though, and Felix sighed.

“Why not?”

“I- I can’t- I don’t want to hurt him, he doesn’t deserve- He doesn’t deserve to get killed just for getting drunk!”

Felix let go of the guy and got up.

“Chan, please, calm down. No one said anything about killing him. You have to eat, I know you’re hungry, and I can tell it’s affecting you badly. I would let you drink my own blood again, but I don’t think my body has been able to replace however much you took since yesterday. This guy is so smashed, he won’t feel a thing, and won’t remember a thing after you’re done. Which is exactly what we need right now, since you don’t have the ability to glamour someone into letting you drink, not feel anything and forget about it afterwards yet, nor the strength and technique to take someone down who would deserve the rough treatment. I promise I’ll keep an eye on his pulse and condition and stop you before you can do any damage. And then you heal him, and we make sure he gets home safely. Ok?”

Chan hesitated visibly, but he _was_ hungry; really, _really_ hungry!

“You… you’ll do that?”

“Yes, I will. I don’t have a reason to want this dude dead, either. On the contrary, my prints are already all over him and and if he dies and his body is found, I’ll be the prime suspect of his murder. And if it makes you feel better, I’ll get him back to his home myself if I have to.”

Chan bit his lip so hard he cut it, but he was running so low on blood it didn’t even bleed. Still, he flinched, licking over the cut to heal it.

“Please just make sure he doesn’t die…” He whispered eventually, and Felix nodded.

“Of course. Just wait one more second, ok?” Felix promised, then turned back to the guy, shaking him gently. “Hey, buddy! What’s your name? We need to find your friends, so they can take you home.”

The guy groaned, weakly and very futilely trying to sit up straighter.

“…home…” He mumbled, and Felix hummed.

“Yeah, home. They’ll take you home. You just gotta give me your name, ok?”

Another groan, and then his lips moved again.

“Dun-Duncan…”

“Alright, Duncan. You just take a nap here, alright? You’ll be home soon…”

Duncan mumbled something incoherent and his chin hit his chest again. Felix rolled his eyes slightly, then took his hands into his own, looking up at Chan.

“What are you waiting for? Get in here.”

Chan hesitated, but did step into the severely crowded cubicle and shut the door behind them. Felix adjusted the guy’s position so Chan could hold on to one of his wrists while he held the other to monitor his pulse. At the same time, he took off the necklace he’d put on earlier and kept it in his hand for Chan to see. Ironically, the threat of being burned by silver seemed to calm Chan’s nerves.

“Go ahead, Chan. I got his pulse. It’s strong and steady; I’ll stop you if it changes at all, ok?”

With a shaky exhale and a nod, Chan brought the wrist up to his mouth, and after only a short moment of hesitation, his hunger won over and he sank his teeth into the flesh. The guy didn’t even twitch, and Felix let Chan drink. He did keep his promise to stop Chan as soon as he felt the most minor change in the guy’s pulse.

“Chan, that’s enough.” He warned, letting go of the guy’s wrist and moving to push Chan away instead. Chan resisted, though, growling slightly, and Felix pushed more insistently.

“Chan! I won’t hesitate to use the silver on you if you don’t let go this instant!” He hissed, and that worked to get Chan to let go.

“Close the wound, and then let’s go.” He instructed, and Chan hurried to lick over the torn skin. It healed without leaving a trace of the wound, and yet, Chan looked terribly guilty as he sat back.

“I took too much, didn’t I? I couldn’t stop in time…”

Felix shook his head, though.

“You didn’t. I really did warn you at the smallest change in his pulse. You could probably have taken twice the amount and he’d still be fine. You can check his pulse for yourself, if you want…”

Chan shook his head, though.

“Ok. So, let’s just get him help and go home, alright? That is, if you got enough…?”

Chan nodded hastily, and Felix wondered if he was telling him the truth. If he wasn’t… well, there wasn’t anything he could do about that.

He led Chan out of the bathroom, and made sure to find a security guard close by, letting him know of the passed-out guy. They guard nodded, and Felix and Chan made their way to the exit. As they were picking up their jackets, they could hear the DJ pausing shortly between songs to call out for the friends of a Duncan, who had passed out in the bathroom. Chan relaxed visibly after that, and they made their way home in a pretty comfortable silence.

It was only when they arrived at Felix’ that Felix noticed something was off about Chan.

“Hey… You ok?”

Chan nodded, but swayed slightly as he did.

“Yeah… I just feel… tipsy. That guy had more alcohol in just the blood I took from him than all the alcohol I’ve ever consumed myself before…”

Felix arched a brow at that.

“You really aren’t the party-type, are you…”

Chan shook his head.

“I’m the boring stay-at-home-and-study guy.”

“To each their own. Anyway, that might actually come in handy now. Think you’re lucid enough to help me research about glamouring and how to teach it to a vampire? Because we really need to work on that…”

***

Research proved successful, and the next day – early afternoon, to be precise, for they slept in late since it was a Saturday and Felix had the day off – found Felix and Chan sitting facing each other in the living room, staring into each other’s eyes.

“Get up.” Chan muttered, but Felix didn’t move.

“No.” He countered instead, and Chan tried again.

“Get up.”

“No.

“Get up!”

“No.”

“Get. Up!” Chan tried, more forceful, and Felix’ eyes clouded over.

“Felix?!” Chan called immediately, worry taking over that he’d done something wrong. Felix blinked hastily, shaking off the light fog that had formed around his mind.

“You almost had me there! Try again!”

Chan couldn’t believe it, hope blossoming within him, and he tried again.

“Get up!”

“No…”

And Chan deflated. Felix wouldn’t have that, though.

“You can’t give up after only five tries; come on, Chan! Try something different, experiment with your tone. You got this!”

Chan did, in fact, not get this for a whole two more hours, until Felix eventually got up, blinking his eyes confusedly as if he couldn’t remember how he’d gotten to where he was. Then he realized, though, and he clapped excitedly as he congratulated Chan. Still, one successful try did not make a successful glamourer, and he bugged Chan into trying again and again, until he couldn’t resist the order a single time anymore.

They changed it up, then, making Chan’s orders more complicated: get up and spin; get up, spin, and walk to the kitchen; get up, spin, walk to the kitchen and get a teaspoon, then bring it back; get up, spin, go to his room, change into a blue shirt, then go to the kitchen and get his tea mug… It took them the whole afternoon, and just when Chan thought Felix was done with him, he changed the exercise up again and told Chan to make him forget now. The exercise he came up with for that consisted of Chan choosing a number, which Felix would remember; and then Chan’s task was to make Felix forget that number. It took well into the night for Chan to manage to make Felix forget the number, and he was exhausted by then; exhausted and hungry.

And so, Felix helped him dress up, and they set out for the clubs again. Chan tried his best to glamour someone to come with him straight off the bar, yet his mind control abilities still left a lot to be desired. Eventually, he did manage to glamour a pretty tipsy guy to come with him, though he refused to drink from him without Felix there to make sure he didn’t take too much blood from him.

Felix could only hope that Chan’s order to the guy to forget them and what had happened worked; or at least that the guy would still get way drunker, replace the missing blood with alcohol, so he would for sure have forgotten them by the next morning.

***

Come morning, Felix woke Chan up pretty early, with the excuse that they had a lot of learning to do, and Felix couldn’t stay up until late that night with him because he had work on Monday morning.

And so, they picked up where they had left off the night before, with Chan trying to use his vampire seduction powers to make Felix do something, or stop him from doing something. For some reason, it was much harder for Chan now than the day before, even though he felt stronger and more powerful due to the third blood-meal in three days.

“Why is it not working? It feels as if something is blocking me, pushing me away…” Chan complained eventually, slumping back to lie on the floor after a whole two hours of fruitless attempts. “What is different from yesterday?”

That was a good question, one that Felix had no answer to.

“I don’t know, Chan… Come on, giving up is not an option!” He reached out to grab Chan’s wrist and pull him up into a sitting position again. Chan flinched violently, though, ripping his arm away from Felix.

“What the hell?! What was that for?”

Felix stared at him in bewilderment.

“What was what for?”

“You burned me!”

“I… did not…?” Felix was genuinely confused, looking down at his hands. It was then that he noticed, though.

“Oh… Shit. I forgot, sorry.” He was still wearing the silver ring he had put on before they had headed out the night before, the one to stop Chan from drinking too much should he have to. Quickly, he took it off and set it aside.

“Come on, let’s keep practicing. You did so well yesterday, you can do it again today. Let’s go!”

Chan groaned but relented, sitting up.

“Five.”

Felix nodded.

“Forget the number I just told you… Which number was it?”

Felix blinked at Chan in confusion.

“Huh?”

“Which number?”

“What number?”

“You forgot?!”

Felix thought long and hard, then nodded.

“Yep… You did it! Do it again!”

Chan sat up straighter, encouraged.

“Number eight. Forget the number I just told you. Which number was it?”

Felix shook his head.

“No number! You did it again! Try another command!”

Chan felt relief was over him.

“Go to your room and put on two different socks.”

Without question, Felix got up and went to his room, reemerging with two different socks on. It was only when he stood in front of Chan again that he snapped out of it, looking down on himself.

“Seriously, now? I hate rolling up socks, and now I have two extra pairs to roll up? Ugh…”

Chan chuckled.

“But it worked!”

Felix stopped and smiled at Chan.

“Yeah, it did. And without a hitch. What was going on before that it didn’t work?”

Chan shrugged, but then he had an idea.

“I think it might have been the ring…”

Felix’ eyes fell to where he’d placed the silver jewelry and picked it up again.

“You think…? Try telling me something now.”

“Spin.”

Felix twitched, but stopped himself.

“Hm… The urge was there, but very subdued…” He put the ring down again.

“Go now.”

“Spin.” Without hesitation, Felix spun in place.

“It really is the ring. Silver blocks my commands.”

“Not completely, though. I think you’ll be able to overcome it with training. You just have to get better and stronger. For now, we should probably focus on targets that aren’t wearing any or not a lot of jewelry, until you can overcome the block of silver. Anyway…” He slipped the ring back on to his finger. “Let’s keep training. The sooner you learn, the better!”

Chan groaned quietly, but relented. Felix was right, after all.

***

The work week brought less opportunity to train for Chan, but Felix left him with a large pile of books and links for him to read up on vampire lore and learn more about his kind for when he was at work. Not that Chan spent a lot of the time Felix wasn’t home awake, the power of daytime knocking him out pretty deeply now that he didn’t have to fear being exposed to the sun if he allowed himself to fall into too deep of a slumber.

Felix, too, would have loved to sleep some more during the daytime, especially since he made it a point to accompany Chan to the clubs every night to help him feed at least once. Chan was still too terrified of accidentally killing someone if Felix wasn’t there to stop him in time. There wasn’t much Felix could do about that, either, because Chan flat out refused to feed if Felix wasn’t there to stop him, and he really did not want Chan to go hungry. Not exclusively because that would mean to have a hungry vampire stalking up and down his apartment while he slept, but that was definitely also a strong factor.

Over the week, with what little training time they did have, Chan still managed to get progressively better at manipulating Felix with his commands when he was wearing silver, and come Saturday, he finally managed to get Felix to get up and turn around from where they were sitting and practicing. Felix was proud of him, congratulating him even if it was not a full spin yet. That didn’t mean that he gave Chan a break, though, and they kept practicing until it was time to head out at night to get Chan a meal.

It was on the way home from that that Felix noticed something was off about Chan.

“What’s wrong?” He asked as soon as he noticed, but Chan shrugged it off.

“Come on, I can tell something is off. Something is bugging you. What is it?”

Chan sighed, waiting until they were in a less populated area.

“It’s… The people I’ve been feeding off.”

“What about them?”

Chan wrapped his arms around himself in the way Felix had since learned he did whenever he felt deeply uncomfortable.

“Well, for one… They are all drunk. And I really… really don’t like the taste of alcohol in their blood. Is just as disgusting as it is plain. And it affects me, too. Not as it would when I was still human, but it still does, and I hate the fuzziness it leaves in my brain. I also don’t know if it’s all that healthy for me? I mean, technically, I’m drinking every single day of the week now; doesn’t that make me an alcoholic? And even though my body heals faster now… Would it also heal a liver cirrhosis?”

Those were some very good questions and points; questions and points Felix had no answers for.

“And then… the people in general; not just the fact that they are drunk. They are pretty much all college students. Miserable, poor college students who just want a few hours of break from the stress of classes and assignments and the crippling thoughts of potential failure and debt and responsibilities heaped onto their shoulders way too soon in their life. And then on top of it all, I come in and give them a massive anemia that will surely do nothing to help with the hangover the next day, and who knows if they even have the means or knowledge to buy what they need to recover from that anemia quickly? It just… It makes me feel like shit.”

Now that… That, Felix hadn’t taken into account, but now that Chan mentioned it… Fuck, he could empathize with that.

“So, we need to find you another target group.”

Chan flinched.

“Can you not call it that? They are still people.”

Felix hummed in understanding.

“Ok. So, what we need is a group of people who are less… pitiful. Who probably deserve an anemia-induced headache and a little scare once in a while. Like, I don’t know, criminals? Robbers, thieves, drug dealers?”

Chan sighed.

“They don’t deserve that, either. Most of them are just as pitiful, if not more so, than college kids. Life sucks enough for them as it is for them to have to resort to stealing and dealing to get by.”

“So, you want to go for the big guys? Mafia and shit? Sorry, Chan, but you really, really don’t have the means to pull that off yet.”

Chan huffed, annoyed.

“I _kno_ w _!_ Those guys would deserve it more than a little pickpocket who steals to get by or a college student who drowns themselves in alcohol to forget about finals week for a moment, though!”

Felix sighed, patting Chan’s arm as they turned the corner to their apartment building.

“I know, I know… If you want to go after true criminals, though, you have to learn how to fight first. How to be faster than their bullets, how to take them down man to man, or better yet, how not to be seen or heard or detected by them in any way in the first place. And that… that training is going to be harder and take more out of you than the mind control ever will. You’ll also need to feed more and probably more often.”

Chan grimaced at that.

“What does that mean for now?”

Felix sighed.

“That means… How about we compromise? We’ll still go to the clubs and after the college kids, but how about we go after the jerks instead? The kind who doesn’t know the meaning of the word no and how to keep their grubby paws to themselves?”

Chan thought about it for a moment, then relented.

“Gross. But ok. I can live with that.”

***

“Just because I heal fast, that doesn’t mean I don’t feel pain, you know!” Chan groaned when Felix sent him to the floor yet again after he didn’t know how many hours of training. “Could you maybe kick me just a little more gently? Or, like, not completely pull my arms out of their sockets? I’d be eternally grateful for that.”

Felix blew his hair out of his forehead before plopping down on the floor next to Chan and patting his shoulder.

“Sorry, mate… I thought you wanted to learn how to fight?”

“Yeah, how to fight… Not how to mop the floor with my face…!” Chan retorted, and Felix chuckled.

“To learn how to fight you have to learn how to deal with the consequences, too, though.”

“And here I though the whole point of me learning how to fight would be to avoid getting my ass handed to me. I feel like you’re just getting a kick out of making me scream, here.”

Felix laughed.

“Well, while I do typically enjoy it when my partners are vocal, it’s usually in another setting…”

Chan groaned again, rolling away from Felix and hiding his face in his arms as he came to lie belly-down on the floor.

“Please, just shut up… Why do you enjoy my suffering so much? What have I ever done to you?!”

Felix laughed again, and started poking Chan’s side.

“Come on, up! Let’s do one more run and then clean up to go out for dinner!”

Chan pushed himself up, groaning all the way.

“You won’t even allow me time to heal… I feel like between the two of us, you are the far bigger monster…” He complained, yet Felix showed no mercy, and they started sparring again. Chan did his best to get out of the defense and start an attack of his own, but as soon as he did he left an opening for Felix to counter-attack, and his knee gave a sickening crack under Felix’ kick as it bent sideways and he toppled to the floor with a yell.

“Oh, shit, sorry… That was a bit harsh, wasn’t it? Are you ok?” Felix winced, rushing to Chan’s side.

“No, I’m not ok, you jerk! I think my knee is just barely this side from broken!” He hissed in pain, and Felix went to push the leg of his sweatpants up to inspect it.

“Uh… I’m tempted to agree with you. I’m sorry about that one, really. Here, I’ll let you take some of my blood to heal it.” Felix pulled the sleeve of his jumper up, offering his wrist to Chan, who looked at him with wide eyes.

“Are you sure?”

Felix nodded.

“It’s been three weeks, I’ve had plenty of time to recover. And I’m not telling you to take a whole meal from me, just enough to heal. We’re still going out in a bit.”

Chan hesitated for a moment, but then took the offered wrist and sank his teeth through the skin.

For fangs like Chan’s, long and curved and not at all that small, the pain of the bite was really minimal. Felix was sure he had had times when he’d had his blood drawn at a clinic that had hurt worse.

“Chan, don’t take so much, please…” Felix asked after a moment, and Chan pulled back.

“Yeah, sorry… Sorry.” He licked over the wound one last time, starting the healing process.

“It’s ok.” Felix smiled as he tugged the sleeve back down, then realized something. “Hey! This was the first time you stopped immediately when I told you to! You’re getting so much better at this!!”

Chan stared at him in bewilderment.

“Uh, was it? Wow, uhm… Maybe it’s because I’m not that hungry, actually…?”

That was bullshit and they both knew it; Chan hadn’t eaten since the night before, but worked out quite a lot and gotten hurt in the process; he was famished.

“Or, because I’ve been feeding more regularly and don’t have that deep-set urge all the time anymore…” Chan tried to reason further, and Felix sighed, hitting his arm lightly.

“Or, you’re maybe just getting better at controlling your urge, because you’re learning and improving and not as much of a lost cause as you like to think of yourself to be.”

Chan blushed slightly, the fact he’d just fed allowing his body to do that, and Felix smiled at the sight. It was cute. Chan was cute.

Before he could think further about that, he forced his thoughts away from that trail and focused on something else.

“Is your knee still hurting?”

Chan made a face.

“Getting there. It feels gross when it sets itself. Zero out of ten would recommend.”

Felix scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Yeah… Sorry about that. I’m just trying to keep you on your toes, you’re getting quite good and you’ll soon have caught up to me…”

“I’m not actually mad at you, you know that, right? I couldn’t be more grateful that you’re willing to teach me. I’d be screwed without you- No! No, Felix, no! Shut up!”

Felix gaped at Chan.

“I didn’t even say anything!”

“You were going to! I could see it on your face, I could see exactly what you were going to say, and I don’t want to hear it!”

“Rude! You can’t have known what I was going to say!”

“Yes, I could. And I do!”

“Oh? What was it, then?”

“You were-… Oh, no. No no no, you won’t get me there. I’m not going to say it!”

Felix kept the offended look up for only a few seconds longer before letting out a chuckle.

“You’re getting smarter and not falling for my traps anymore, too. Good boy…!”

Chan glared at him, snapping his teeth at him afterwards, just barely missing Felix’ hand.

“I’m not your dog, asshole.”

Felix laughed, getting up.

“Really? Could have fooled me there…!” He teased, patting Chan’s head before dancing out of the way of his lunging hand.

Chan made no move to follow him, simply watching as Felix picked up a towel from the couch they had pushed into the furthermost corner of the living room, as they had with all the furniture in the room to have room to practice.

If he was being honest with himself, Chan was pretty much aware that he might as well be Felix’ bitch at this point. At least, if Felix decided to make him it, he would most likely not resist at all. The thing was, Felix didn’t treat him like it, never made him feel inferior or indebted or dependent. He did his best to boost Chan’s ego instead, to help him become as independent as possible, encouraged him where he could. It was only when they were joking around like this that he would ever belittle Chan, and Chan knew it wasn’t meant seriously.

By now, he was glad that his maker had abandoned him, even if those first two weeks as a vampire had been hell. But if she hadn’t, he wouldn’t have met Felix, and if the lore he’d read up on was based on any true core… He would still be in hell by now had he stayed with his maker, and would be for a long time, since apparently vampires took full advantage of the helplessness of newborns to essentially make them their lapdogs and slaves.

Felix did none of that, treating him as an equal at all times, yet fully aware of his weak points and always there to cover them. And training with Felix might be rough, but as much as he complained, he was glad that Felix was doing it to try and catch him up to speed, rather than to keep him down and subdued, like a Maker would.

Chan was pulled out of his thoughts by Felix extending a hand to him, right in front of his eyes.

“Come, lets get ready. I need to eat something before we leave, too, and it’s getting late.” He coaxed, and Chan took the offered hand, letting Felix pull him to his feet. Tentatively, he tested his knee, and it was holding.

“Fast healing or not, try not to strain it too much yet, ok? You might have a vampire body, but it’s built upon a human body, and our anatomy sucks most days.” Felix reminded Chan, and Chan took the warning seriously as he went to pick out clothes for later and take a shower.

***

Chan felt nauseated by the behaviour of the guys he’d taken to go after in the clubs, and if it hadn’t been for Felix, he would gladly have left them with more than just some memories of flashing fangs and torn skin and flesh as a reminder of what their behaviour brought them. But Felix was adamant about him wiping their memories clear off both their faces and healing their wounds to perfection before leaving them behind after feeding.

Felix was also adamant about not visiting the same clubs too often and changing the area they appeared in every night, making them travel all across the city for their nightly excursions.

Of course, being out and about in the city at night, especially in some shadier areas, was prone to lead them to trouble. Felix was not phased at all, though, when they were surrounded by a small-to-medium-sized group of thugs looking very much up to no good one day.

“If they come for us, you want to try taking them on on your own?” Felix whispered under his breath, and Chan’s eyes widened.

“Me?! But, I’m not-…”

“You’ve been doing really, really well, Chan. I have full confidence that you can do it; otherwise I wouldn’t suggest it. And if things go south, I’ll have your back, ok?”

Chan looked at Felix with uncertainty in his eyes, but they didn’t have any time to discuss it further as one of the guys stepped closer to them, wolf-whistling.

“Hey, princesses! Wanna play?”

Chan sucked in a sharp breath and answered Felix’ question quietly, just for him to hear before stepping in front of him.

“Ok.”

“Aww, how cute! You want to protect your princess… princess?” The guy mocked, earning laughter from his companions as all of their attention focused on Felix and Chan.

Felix fumed internally, incredibly annoyed at the way the pig was belittling Chan, but he kept his calm exterior and squeezed Chan’s hand encouragingly before letting go.

“Go show them what a princess can do!”

And Chan did. The first guy to reach out to him kissed a wall nearby in no time, and before he could fully fall to the floor, whimpering, another was slammed into him, sending them both sprawling. Felix merely kept those that were coming for himself at bay, while Chan put to good use everything he’d learned from Felix.

In no time, the whole group was sprawled out on the floor, groaning and whimpering and dragging themselves away from where Chan and Felix stood.

“Maybe next time consider before making unsolicited advances on a princess; could save you from getting you royally screwed.” Felix scoffed at the thugs, passing and arm around Chan’s waist. The vampire was panting slightly, and there was a cut above his eyebrow.

“Chan? You’re hurt. Did they get you anywhere else?” Worry caught up with Felix, thugs momentarily forgotten, but Chan shrugged.

“Just grazes…”

Felix hummed, pensive.

“You should heal them. And replenish; there’s plenty here, now.”

Chan frowned, though.

“They smell, though. Like, allergic-to-soap-and-water smell.”

“I’m sorry about that… But they made you use quite a bit of energy, and you only fed once today. Plus, you got hurt. And this is the perfect opportunity for you to feast until you’re actually full for once, since there’s more than enough.”

Chan couldn’t really argue with that, and since his body was using up what little blood he’d fed on earlier in the club they’d visited that night to heal the wounds he’d gotten in the fight, his hunger surged and the smell of blood from the scratches and cuts he’d given the thugs before was starting to overpower the smell of grime and lack of body-hygiene. He let go of Felix’ hand eventually and made his way to the nearest thug, picking him off the ground and holding him up against a wall before sinking his teeth into his wrist.

The guy screamed, but Chan didn’t let go, and his scream died down into a whimper as his colleagues watched the scene with horror in their eyes, before frantically looking for a way to escape the scene.

“Chan, don’t kill him. You’ll just feel bad about it later.” Felix reminded him gently, and Chan let go of the guy as he went limp in his hold.

There was something wild in his gaze as he let him fall to the ground and chased after another of the thugs, tearing into his wrist right then and there and drinking until he passed out. And so, he went on, going through the thugs one by one. Felix was amazed, and a little scared, of how much Chan could feed in one go, wondering if he’d ever been truly sated if he fed like this now.

Conveniently, Chan left the leader for last, and Felix was sure by now he was biting unnecessarily harshly by the yell he let out, just as the others had been. He knew from experience, after all, that Chan’s bite could be so gentle he barely felt it, and yet these guys were making such a fuss…

Once the leader of the group passed out, too, Felix approached Chan again.

“Better?”

Chan was flushed, even, and still panting. His cut was completely healed, though.

“Not really. I’m way too full…”

Felix rolled his eyes at him.

“Really, now? You overate? You glutton…”

Chan pouted, but his pout quickly turned stubborn.

“They deserved it, and I wanted all of them to get what they deserved!”

“So, you overate… Seriously, now…”

Chan sighed, shrugging, and took Felix’ hand in his.

“Let’s just go home. They still reek…”

Felix muffled a chuckle, feeling very warm inside at the fact that Chan had initiated the hand-holding this time, but didn’t mention it.

“You fought really well back there. I knew you could do it!” He praised proudly instead, and Chan hummed.

“I still got hurt, though… Even if just a little.”

“You did. But you didn’t let that deter you. Remember when we first started training? If you’d gotten a gash on your face like the one you got back there then, you would have backed out of the fight immediately. And now you didn’t even acknowledge it until it was over. You also wouldn’t have engaged eight of them at the same time, and been able to hold your own against them. I’m really, really proud of you!”

Chan blushed even more, avoiding Felix’ gaze until his skin tone cooled down a little again.

“I didn’t hold my own against all eight of them, though. I know you took out two of them.”

Felix looked like the dictionary definition of innocence, though.

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

Chan took a whole while to study Felix’ expression, but it didn’t waver, and eventually he chuckled, nudging Felix in the side with his elbow.

“Like hell you don’t… But thank you.”

“Huh? For what?” Felix continued the innocent act.

“For letting me have this.”

***

“You know who you should really eat?” Felix greeted Chan one day when he came home, making Chan look up from the book he was reading, startled.

“Huh?”

“Company board members. I don’t care which company, they are all the same, massive bunch of pricks and assholes. But I would like to offer my bosses up first and foremost!”

Chan set his book aside and turned to face Felix as he came into the room, rambling as he plopped down on the couch. “What happened?” He still made sure to ask, and Felix took the offer to vent gladly.

“You know how I’ve been working my ass off on this project lately, right? I mean, when was the last time I even came home before nightfall, when supposedly my shift goes only until four? Anyway, I’m not saying that I deserve a promotion for that or anything - because if I did get a promotion for every time I worked my ass off for that company I should long since have taken over the spot as CEO _and_ all the board members’ - but there’s this… person. We were supposed to work on that project together, but that… person, didn’t do much at all. I didn’t say anything, because everyone has shit days and sometimes even shit weeks and months, so I just did their part, too, to get everything done in time. Turns out, said person hasn’t been having much time to help with the project because they were busy sleeping their way through the board members – and I mean, by all means, they’re welcome to, and I hope for them that those assholes are better in bed than at work – but, after them not doing _shit_ for the project, they were the ones who got a promotion today! And when I dared to speak up and say hello, I basically did the project by myself? I got _demoted_ , for lack of team-work capacity and collegiality! Can you believe it? Those fucking assholes- I’m so mad!” Felix finished his speech, attacking a pillow with his fists.

“That really is unfair…”

“Damn right, it is! And now I’ve fallen into the department of a fucker who doesn’t do shit, either; honestly, she’s just there because her parents paid her way in through sponsoring gigs! She has no qualifications whatsoever for that job, which basically means I have to do my job _and hers_ from now on! And my pay is getting docked! I worked my ass off to be where I was, and now-”

Felix broke off, tears pooling in his eyes, but he wiped at them angrily, taking a few deep breaths.

“That also means we might need to start looking for a smaller apartment because I won’t be able to pay the rent for this one anymore…” Felix admitted quietly, and it broke Chan’s still heart.

He got up from where he was sitting to sit next to Felix, wrapping his arms around him and pulling the human against his chest to comfort him.

“That really sucks, but it will be ok. We can save a ton of money from now on, if you don’t have to pay entrance fees for clubs anymore every day if I just start eating the rich.” He mumbled into Felix hair, and Felix chuckled, the suffocating weight of anger falling off his shoulders with it, and he wrapped his arms around Chan in turn and let go of the tears of sadness choking him.

As Felix cried in Chan’s arms, Chan’s chest hurt. He had really thought that ever since his heart had stopped and he’d become a vampire, he wouldn’t be able to feel heartache anymore, but he had been wrong. His heart ached just the same, and with every tear of Felix’ that fell, he vowed retribution to those who had made him cry.

***

Chan meant it when he said he was ready for a change of diet, and decided he wanted to start a new kind of training. He had long since surpassed Felix in man to man combat and every single one of the eight forms of martial arts Felix excelled in, but there was still much to learn. He needed to improve his speed, for example, and his stealth. Climbing was another one, which involved jumping, landing, dodging and rolling, as well as endurance and strength…

All of those he could train on his own, out in the city after Felix had gone to sleep. He would usually stay out until just before Felix would wake up for work, being there just in time for Felix to not worry about where he’d gone. And he was getting better at every single one of them, now that he would also feed regularly and enough for his needs, and didn’t need Felix’ help anymore to keep himself in check and not kill his victims.

This also had the benefit that he could stay in with Felix when he came in exhausted from work, and the human didn’t need to go out with him again and could rest instead. With his new position at work, that was very much needed, too.

For a dead heart, Chan found there was an impressive amount of heartbreak he could feel every time he had to watch Felix agonize over how to pay the bills, how to make a deadline, how to get up in the morning and push himself through another day. With each of those, his heart broke more, and a part of it grew colder and colder.

It was the day when Felix announced to him that this was it, this was the furthest they could go and now they had to move into a smaller apartment, that the icy part of Chan’s heart clenched down, and the whole thing beat with raw emotion that not even death could subdue any longer. He begged Felix to wait just a little longer, hold on to the apartment he loved so much for a little while longer even if it was hard. He had a plan. He didn’t tell Felix that, however.

That night, once Felix had gone to sleep, he went out. And he fed well.

In the morning, the news were full of how a notable company CEO had been admitted to a hospital, unconscious and after apparently severe traumatic blood loss, yet no wounds could be found on his body.

“Chan?” Felix called out into the apartment, and Chan appeared from the bathroom, toweling his hair dry.

“Hmm?”

“Do you have anything to do with this?”

“With what?” Chan feigned innocence, sitting down next to Felix on the couch, disinterestedly watching the news with him.

“That’s my boss there.”

“Oh, is he…”

“And he was admitted to a hospital last night after severe blood loss, yet he didn’t have any wounds…”

“Oh? Have they checked his stomach? Maybe he has an ulcer, I heard those can bleed pretty badly…”

“Chan.”

“Right. He _is_ the ulcer; my bad.”

“Chan!”

“What?!”

Felix huffed.

“Do you have anything to do with this?”

“I don’t know what you mean. I’m exhausted, I’m going to sleep. Have a good day at work and don’t let anyone ruin it for you, ok?” He smiled warmly, ruffling Felix’ hair.

“Bang Chan! You are insufferable!” Felix shouted after him, and Chan laughed.

“Love you, too!” He sang before disappearing in his room.

Felix looked after him fondly.

“Yeah, me too… And lucky you I do, to put up with you like this!”

***

“Chan.”

Chan flinched internally at Felix’ flat tone two weeks later.

“Yes?”

“What is this?”

Felix was holding up a letter.

“I have no idea…” Chan started, but Felix narrowed his eyes.

“I really have no idea!” He rose his hands in a placating manner; he really had no idea! Actually.

Maybe…

Felix glared at him, ripping the top of the letter open before peering down just to gasp.

“This is… from the government. Directly. Like, highest heights…”

“What does it say?” Chan asked curiously, egging Felix on to read and tell him.

“Why don’t you tell me?” Felix tried, but Chan blinked innocently at him.

“How would I know what a letter for you says?”

Felix scoffed, but finally began reading. His eyes widened as he went on, and widened further with every line.

“The- the minister- my work, outstanding- dedication- _what?!”_

“I didn’t understand a word you just said.” Chan stated, sitting down at the breakfast counter opposite Felix and resting his chin in his hands.

“It says I am being transferred to a pretty high ranking job at the ministry since I was requested to by the minister herself, following a very enthusiastic letter of recommendation regarding me she got one late night from my company… Chan, what the _hell_?!”

Chan only hummed as he picked at his fingernails lazily.

“Looks like it won’t be eat the rich, but eat _with_ the rich for you soon, huh…?”

He looked up, smiling brightly before rounding the table and hugging Felix tightly from behind.

“Congratulations. You’re finally getting the job you deserve!”

“How did you do that?!” Felix still couldn’t believe it, looking after Chan as he sauntered over to the couch and pulled up a blanket as the daylight outside started to get brighter.

“I have no idea what you mean… By the way, did you know vampire vision allows me to see those laser or infrared or whatever beams they use in those traps for security systems? Kinda trippy, but also kinda cool.”

“What?”

“Anyway, I’m going to sleep now. You should probably go pick your stuff up from your old job.”

“Chan you can’t sleep there, you know the sun reaches the couch when it comes around- You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you. You’re trying to distract me.”

“Distract you from what?”

Felix narrowed his eyes, stalking over to the couch to punch Chan in the arm.

“Ow! What was that for?!”

“For being insufferable! Now move over!”

Chan peered up at him warily.

“Why?” He asked, at the same time as he was already making room for Felix.

“Because I want to cuddle you without risking falling off the couch.”

That, Chan could live with, and he opened his arms for Felix to fall into and hug him. They lay there just hugging each other for a good while before Chan spoke up quietly.

“They really should stop letting old people with no idea about computers sit in important positions… Who even uses their birthday as password in this day and age anymore? Can you imagine what a hazard for the security of the whole country your boss would have been in the ministry if he hadn’t suggested you for the position instead of himself?”

Felix chuckled lightly, then stopped short.

“Wait. Who said that it was my boss who suggested me, and instead of himself… Chan…?”

“Oh, I’m really tired now, I should go to bed before I fall asleep here and the sun catches me off guard… Good night-… day, Felix!”

Chan got up despite Felix laying on top of him, acting as if he weighed nothing, and peeled him off himself, setting him down.

Felix didn’t let Chan get away that easily, though, using Chan’s actions against himself and tripping him so he fell flat on the floor, and hastily went to sit on him, bending his arms back to hold him in place.

“Bang Chan! You better tell me what exactly it is you did, _right now!”_

Chan pouted, but relented eventually.

“Fine… I tried to redeem myself so we were even after everything you’ve done for me, so you couldn’t chalk it up to me just acting out of a misplaced sense of gratitude when I finally confess to you.”

There was nothing Felix could do but gape at Chan, the grip he was pinning him down with going slack and allowing Chan to free himself. Chan wasn’t all that unhappy with his current placement, though, merely turning around so he was lying on his back and facing Felix instead.

“Because I love you, Lee Felix, and not just because you picked me off the streets and beat my ass so lovingly every day. That might have been a reason in the beginning, but hasn’t been for a long time. You make my still heart beat again, even if it’s just when it breaks for you; but that’s an unimportant detail. What’s important is that I love you even though I shouldn’t be able to.”

Felix felt tears well up in his eyes, and he hit Chan’s chest weakly.

“It’s not the heart that loves but the brain, you idiot… Which is why you shouldn’t be able to, since you don’t have one, or you would have noticed _so_ long ago that I love you, too… You stupid, _stupid_ , perfect… asshole…!”

Chan rose an eyebrow at that.

“To be honest, I feel a little bit reduced to my physical attributes here…”

Felix gasped at that, hitting Chan’s chest harder.

“ _Now_ you decide to join in on the innuendo fun? _Now_ , of all times?! I fucking hate you so much…!”

And with that, he surged forward and claimed Chan’s lips in a searing kiss. Chan couldn’t help but laugh into it, until Felix hit his shoulder again, and he decided to focus on what was important. And what was important was Felix; his headstrong, beautiful, hardworking, caring Felix, whom he owed everything he had in his second life to, but also… not, because all Felix would ever hold from him was his heart, still yet warm as it was, and only because he placed it in his hands and never because he would have taken it from him.


End file.
